Vange sits on the south side of the borough, a place where old roads, scattered houses, and long‑vanished landmarks have carried ghost stories for generations. Its hauntings are some of the most varied in Basildon, ranging from mischievous spirits to roadside apparitions and the ever‑present folklore of the phantom black dog.

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The best‑known tale is the mischievous ghost of Church Road, once called Bull Road. For decades, locals believed a troublesome spirit haunted the lonely stretch lined with tall elm trees. It was notorious for its unpleasant pranks — the most dramatic being the claim that it would throw people over the hedge and into the fields. Men leaving the Bull Inn after dark refused to walk the road alone, choosing instead to wait for company rather than risk an encounter. Even without a clear origin story, the road’s eerie reputation was firmly rooted in local memory. 

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Another long‑standing legend is the white phantom of the A13, described by John Howard, former licensee of the Five Bells Inn. He reported hearing a thumping noise before seeing a pure white figure moving down the road from the direction of Vange Church, disappearing near the Fobbing rail crossing. Howard remained adamant that the apparition was real, insisting no one could convince him otherwise. 

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Vange also shares in the wider folklore of the phantom hound, a ghostly black dog said to haunt the road between Vange and Fobbing. Witnesses described a dark shape crossing the road near the old avenue of trees by White Hall Farm — a fleeting, unsettling sight that added to the area’s reputation for strange encounters. 

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Together, these stories give Vange a haunting identity shaped by lonely roads, old inns, and the kind of folklore that lingers long after the landscape changes. A mischievous spirit on Church Road, a white apparition on the A13, and a black dog slipping through the night — echoes of the past that still cling to this corner of the borough.

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